Ernesto "Xe" Acosta was walking to a friend's house near San Francisco's Alamo Square earlier this month when he was shot and killed - nobody knows why.

When officers arrived at Hayes and Webster streets at 2 a.m. Feb. 10, they found Acosta, 23, on the ground, suffering from a gunshot wound.

There was no sign of a robbery. There was no sign of an assault.

"It was a senseless, cold-blooded murder for no apparent reason," said Officer Albie Esparza, a police spokesman.

Police are asking for the public's help in providing any details of what happened that night. Acosta, a "free-spirited man" who worked at the Whole Foods on Haight Street, was bringing a friend's belongings to her home when he was gunned down, police said.

Locals said shootings were once common in the Western Addition neighborhood, but it's been a while since they worried about walking around after dark.

"We don't have that problem anymore," said Nick Shoman, owner of Hayes Market at Hayes and Buchanan streets. "We used to have a lot of shootings, but that was before, in the '90s."

Charlie Jaber, 31, who works at H&W Liquors, a shop his parents own at the corner where Acosta was shot, said, "It's been a long time since anything tragic like that has happened."

Friends and family described Acosta on a memorial Web page as a kind and gentle person who enjoyed traveling. Police said he had no criminal history.

"He was a hard worker, he was well-liked - he was just basically killed for no reason," Esparza said. "He was just walking to his friend's house and was savagely gunned down."

Anyone with information is asked to call police Sgt. John Burke at (415) 553-1145 or an anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444, or to text a tip to TIP411 with "SFPD" at the start of the message.